EMORY, Va. – Emory & Henry College Head Cross Country/Track & Field Coach Ian Layne has resigned his position to accept a role as Head Cross Country Coach at Huntingdon College. Layne was announced as the Hawks' new leader in a press release on Tuesday.
"We would like to thank Ian for his efforts the past two years," said Interim Director of Athletics Anne Crutchfield. "Our cross country team has seen significant improvement and his hard work to revitalize track & field will be seen for years to come. We wish him the best of luck and success as he returns to his alma mater."
Layne spent the past two seasons at Emory & Henry, leading the men's cross country team to a seventh-place finish at the 2017 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championships and an eighth-place finish in 2016. During the same period, the Wasp women posted a pair of eighth-place league finishes.
"I would like to thank President Jake Schrum and Director of Athletics Myra Sims for the opportunity to be part of this great community over the past two years," commented Layne. "To all my student-athletes and colleagues I would like to say thank you. You have made this an experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life."
Layne has also been instrumental in the reinstatement of track & field as an intercollegiate sport at E&H. The Wasps competed for the first time in 24 years in men's track & field and for the first time ever in women's track & field this spring. Emory & Henry will join the ODAC for the 2019 track & field season.
A 2014 graduate of Huntingdon, Layne returns to his alma mater to assume the coaching duties for the Hawks, who reinstated their cross country teams in the fall of 2017 after a four-year hiatus. Layne was a four-year letterwinner at HC, a member of the GSAC All-Freshman Team in 2009 and helped lead the Hawks to Great South Athletic Conference Championships in 2010 and 2011.
The search for Emory & Henry's next Head Men's & Women's Cross Country Coach will begin immediately. Assistant Track & Field Coach Matt Roden will assume the role of Interim Head Cross Country/Track & Field Coach while the search is being conducted.
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